WUHS’ Collaborative Studio Learning Program Picks Up STEAM

Everyday classroom learning adopts an innovative twist this year at WUHS, as science and IDEA classes partner with hands-on, studio learning company NuVu, to take learning into the third dimension.

For the first time ever, students will get a chance to work in the school’s brand new STEAM lab, also known as the Innovation lab, which represents a space for working in science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics.

With the help of representatives from NuVu and the WUHS faculty, the school is working to build this new creative space within the school to build projects that have never before been attempted in our school.

NuVu studios is a company based out of Cambridge, Massachusetts that provides students with the special opportunity to learn in a hands-on, studio environment where they can develop, build, and experiment with their own ideas and creations, using all sorts of top-notch technologies such as laser cutters, 3D printers and computer drawing programs.

Nuvu representative, Dustin Bruggman, made the commitment to come to Woodstock for the year to help students make their innovative project ideas a reality.

Innovation is a key word in this new style of learning as students are encouraged to dive into a hands-on learning approach by prototyping and turning their ideas from imagination to reality.

At NuVu, students are “constantly building things by hand,” explained Bruggman.

At the moment, physics classes are working with Bruggman to create portable kitchen gadgets that can be used without the need for conventional electric power.

“Some (homemade kitchen gadgets) may be quite impractical, but the design spirit will be fostered and students will grow in ways that they’re likely to overlook,” says physics teacher, Tim Brennan.

The current location of the STEAM lab is in the previous ARC room, but eventually the lab will move into the former high school woodshop to provide plenty of room for creation.

Along with providing a new learning environment for students, the STEAM lab also provides students with a new style of learning and problem solving.

“The never ending cycle of iterations and evolving of ideas helps to train youths’ brains to understand that nothing is ever done. It can always be rethought or reconfigured,” says Physics and IDEA student, Morgan Willis, about the new learning approach.

To add to the excitement of such a unique educational experience, Woodstock is also the first public school in the country to partner with NuVu to create an Innovation Lab in their school.

“WUHS is an excellent candidate for this kind of collaboration with NuVu because we have a very forward-thinking staff, a community that values design thinking, and students who have strong arts and sciences backgrounds and who are adventurous and open to new ways of learning,” says Brennan.

We look forward to seeing the innovative creations that our WUHS students come up with as they advance their skills in the studio learning program, an exciting step for our school as traditional schooling moves towards a STEAM-based future.

“The collaboration is exciting and challenging... but very worthwhile,” says Brennan.